Tuesday, March 4, 2014

This was my second year at Intercon, and I like to think it went very, very well. (I had some initial hesitation, as Madrigal ran the weekend before, and that's a fairly work intensive game for me.) I'm happy to say that both of the games I ran, Rabbit Run (which I co-GMd with the fabulous Albert Lin) and Dragon Palace, seemed to go very well. There are plenty of spots for improvement in both games, but, overall, we delivered stories and emotional experiences that will certainly stick with us, and will hopefully stick with the players. Moreover, in both games, we were very fortunate to have outstanding players.

I usually write about boffer larps, and the Accelerant community. Accordingly, I wanted to open up an entry to Intercon N, and people's experiences there. So, without further ado:

What were the highlights of your event? What new things did you try, and what sort of things did you learn?

Speaking for myself...

- The highlights of my event were certainly the endings of both of my games. Interacting with the players as two (entirely different) NPCs was a rewarding way to see, firsthand, how players interpreted their characters, and allowed me to explore the world with them. This is generally my highlight in full weekend events, and I was happy to see it translated over into the abbreviated time mod setting.

- The other highlight was the players-- NPCs and PCs alike. My Rabbit Run PCs are now writing (incredibly moving and evocative) post-game fiction-- fiction based on an event is one of the biggest tributes, I think, a player can offer a game runner. (I'm really spoiled in Clockwork Skies by similarly minded PCs.) And my Dragon Palace PCs completely ran with the crazy Heian-celestial cosmos I created (and one of them, the player of the Goat, gave me an awesome red dragon mask). Good PCs make a game what it is.

- In terms of places for improvement, I definitely want to run slightly longer games (standard four hours) and open up the extra hour to more time for RP. I sometimes forget, with boffer larps, the conventions of RP, and how, with the full weekend event, you have plenty of downtime to build characters.

I've had requests from players to run both games again next year. I'm pretty amenable to this idea, though Dragon Palace may be some sort of sequel or continuation, versus the same game (though you never know).